Hong Kong saw a surge in cross-border travel over the recent Dragon Boat Festival holiday, with residents making over 1.3 million trips out of the city. However, the number of visitors arriving in Hong Kong was far lower, at just 424,840 people.
According to Immigration Department figures, 89% of the 1.3 million Hong Kong residents who traveled out of the city used border checkpoints with mainland China, suggesting many were visiting neighboring cities like Shenzhen for the long weekend. In comparison, there were only 333,692 mainland arrivals to Hong Kong during the same period.
This disparity has sparked concerns within Hong Kong's retail industry, which is finding that major holidays no longer guarantee a spending boom in the city.
"Peak seasons and holidays nowadays no longer manifest the same way we are traditionally used to," said Jonathan Leung Chun, a spokesman for the Association of Restaurant Managers. "In the past, we automatically expected those times to draw increased sales and more people onto the streets … but that is no longer the case."
The Dragon Boat Festival numbers align with broader trends showing Hong Kong residents making over 74 million trips through border checkpoints in the past year, more than double the 28 million trips made by mainland visitors to Hong Kong.
Factors like Hong Kong's expensive currency and competition from neighboring cities like Macau, which is investing heavily in non-gambling attractions, are seen as contributing to the changing travel and spending patterns.
The government has acknowledged the challenges this presents for local businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises in the retail sector. Efforts are underway to provide assistance and encourage "two-way travel and two-way consumption" between Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.
However, some lawmakers argue more research is needed to fully understand why residents are increasingly traveling to neighboring cities for cross-border consumption and the broader economic impacts.
端午節期間香港跨境旅遊達130萬人次
根據移民署數據,在端午節長假期間,共有130萬港人外遊,但反方向入境的只有424,840人。
這一差距引起了本地零售業的擔憂,他們發現大型節假日已不再能保證帶來在港的消費高峰。
「節假日旺季如今已不再像過去一樣顯著帶動消費,」餐飲經理協會發言人梁振說,「過去我們自動預期這些時期能帶來銷售增加及更多人流到街上,但現在情況並非如此。」
這些端午節數據反映了更廣泛的趨勢 - 在過去一年,港人通過口岸的跨境旅遊次數超過7,400萬次,是內地訪港遊客2,800萬次的兩倍多。
香港貨幣昂貴以及鄰近城市如澳門大力投資非博彩旅遊吸引力,被視為導致這一消費模式變化的因素。
政府已承認這對本地企業尤其是中小型零售企業帶來的挑戰,並正採取措施提供協助及鼓勵粵港兩地的雙向旅遊和消費。
不過,部分立法會議員認為,更需要深入研究港人為何愈發傾向到鄰近城市作跨境消費,以及這對經濟的影響。
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